It's technically a novella
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iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:
iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:
iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:
BrianFagioli writes: Wine 11.0 has officially landed, wrapping up a year of development with more than 6,000 code changes and a broad set of upgrades that touch gaming, desktop behavior, and long-standing architectural work. The biggest milestone is the completion of the new WoW64 model, which is now considered fully supported and allows 32-bit and even 16-bit applications to run in a cleaner way inside 64-bit prefixes. Wine also gains support for the NTSYNC kernel module now bundled in Linux 6.14, which cuts overhead from thread synchronization and should deliver observable performance benefits in games and multi-threaded applications. A single unified wine binary now replaces the old wine64 launcher, and several system behaviors align more closely with modern Windows, including syscall numbering and NT reparse points.
Graphics and desktop integration received more polish, including deeper Vulkan support (up to API 1.4.335), hardware-accelerated H.264 decoding through Direct3D, and further improvements to Wine's Wayland driver, which now supports clipboard operations, IMEs, and shaped windows. X11 users gain better window activation and fullscreen handling, and legacy DirectX features continue to expand under Wine's Vulkan renderer. Device support also moves forward, with better joystick handling, improved Bluetooth visibility and pairing, and working TWAIN scanning on 64-bit apps. Broad multimedia updates, DirectMusic refinements, .NET/XNA improvements, and developer-facing tools round out a release that appears focused on smoothing sharp edges rather than introducing flashy experiments. As always, source is live now and distro packages are rolling out.
Graphics and desktop integration received more polish, including deeper Vulkan support (up to API 1.4.335), hardware-accelerated H.264 decoding through Direct3D, and further improvements to Wine's Wayland driver, which now supports clipboard operations, IMEs, and shaped windows. X11 users gain better window activation and fullscreen handling, and legacy DirectX features continue to expand under Wine's Vulkan renderer. Device support also moves forward, with better joystick handling, improved Bluetooth visibility and pairing, and working TWAIN scanning on 64-bit apps. Broad multimedia updates, DirectMusic refinements, .NET/XNA improvements, and developer-facing tools round out a release that appears focused on smoothing sharp edges rather than introducing flashy experiments. As always, source is live now and distro packages are rolling out.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: The global technology sector eliminated some 244,851 jobs in 2025, according to a report from RationalFX. The U.K.-based financial services company says the worldwide downsizing reflects how companies in 2025 restructured their operations to focus on efficiency, profitability, and AI-driven productivity. The RationalFX analysis, which examined layoffs reported by TrueUp, TechCrunch, and multiple state WARN databases, points to economic uncertainty, elevated interest rates, and accelerating AI and automation adoption as reasons that 2025 marked "another year of sustained downsizing following the post-pandemic correction that began in 2022."
Companies indicated that AI and automation were among the most frequently cited drivers for layoffs in 2025. Some companies retrained employees when faced with the technology; many replaced roles entirely, RationalFX reports. "Tech sector layoffs in 2025 displaced hundreds of thousands of workers worldwide as companies accelerated structural resets rather than short-term cost corrections," said Alan Cohen, analyst at RationalFX, in a statement. "While macroeconomic pressures such as high interest rates, trade restrictions, and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on business confidence, the dominant force behind last year's job cuts was the rapid adoption of automation and artificial intelligence."
The analysis also uncovered that U.S.-headquartered technology companies were responsible for the majority of job losses, accounting for approximately 69.7% of all global tech layoffs. This resulted in more than 170,000 employees being cut across both domestic and offshore operations from U.S. tech companies. California spearheaded layoffs in the U.S. tech sector this year, with 73,499 job cuts accounting for roughly 43.08% of all tech layoffs in the country, according to the RationalFX report. The report also points out that Washington has seen 42,221 tech jobs cut since the start of the year, accounting for 24.74% of all U.S. tech layoffs. Intel contributed the single largest number of layoffs last year, reducing its headcount from 109,000 people at the end of 2024 to around 75,000 by the end of 2025. Other major U.S. tech companies with large-scale layoffs last year include Amazon (more than 20,000 jobs cut), Microsoft (approximately 19,215 layoffs), Verizon (15,000 employees), Accenture (11,000 employees), IBM (9,000 job cuts), and HP (6,000 roles).
Companies indicated that AI and automation were among the most frequently cited drivers for layoffs in 2025. Some companies retrained employees when faced with the technology; many replaced roles entirely, RationalFX reports. "Tech sector layoffs in 2025 displaced hundreds of thousands of workers worldwide as companies accelerated structural resets rather than short-term cost corrections," said Alan Cohen, analyst at RationalFX, in a statement. "While macroeconomic pressures such as high interest rates, trade restrictions, and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on business confidence, the dominant force behind last year's job cuts was the rapid adoption of automation and artificial intelligence."
The analysis also uncovered that U.S.-headquartered technology companies were responsible for the majority of job losses, accounting for approximately 69.7% of all global tech layoffs. This resulted in more than 170,000 employees being cut across both domestic and offshore operations from U.S. tech companies. California spearheaded layoffs in the U.S. tech sector this year, with 73,499 job cuts accounting for roughly 43.08% of all tech layoffs in the country, according to the RationalFX report. The report also points out that Washington has seen 42,221 tech jobs cut since the start of the year, accounting for 24.74% of all U.S. tech layoffs. Intel contributed the single largest number of layoffs last year, reducing its headcount from 109,000 people at the end of 2024 to around 75,000 by the end of 2025. Other major U.S. tech companies with large-scale layoffs last year include Amazon (more than 20,000 jobs cut), Microsoft (approximately 19,215 layoffs), Verizon (15,000 employees), Accenture (11,000 employees), IBM (9,000 job cuts), and HP (6,000 roles).
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
After widespread backlash over its 2022 decision to remove JPEG-XL support, Google has quietly restored the image format in the latest Chrome/Chromium codebase. Phoronix reports: Back in December they merged jxl-rs as a pure Rust-based JPEG-XL image decoder from the official libjxl organization. At the end of December they did more JPEG-XL plumbing with the enums and build flags for the support. Now as of yesterday they wired up the JXL decoder! The jxl-rs-powered JPEG-XL image decoding is gated by the enable_jxl_decoder build flag but it's enabled by default.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Chromium commit adds support for image decoder after the Big G ditched it a few years back
Google has added support for the JPEG XL (JXL) image format to the open source Chromium code base, reversing a decision in 2022 to drop the technology.…
First Patch Tuesday of 2026 goes big
Microsoft and Uncle Sam have warned that a Windows bug disclosed today is already under attack.…
on the water photography has added a photo to the pool:
Decorative tiles featuring peaches can be found on the roofs of the inner and side gates of Jotenji Temple, as well as on the roof of the Hakata Sennenmon Gate. There are various theories about the origins of peaches, but here's one I'll introduce.
Peaches have long been considered the fruit of immortals, capable of driving away evil spirits. They have also been said to be a fruit with spiritual powers, granting immortality and longevity. Peaches were more popular than plums or cherry blossoms, as the word "utopia" refers to a paradise.
To prevent roofs from rotting due to rainwater, slabs of lids are needed, but lids are rather dull, so peaches and other fruits were apparently placed on them instead.
These decorative peach tiles are an unexpected charming feature on the temple roof. Please take the time to look at them.
Source: Hakata no miryoku
Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
Greg Adams Photography posted a photo:
Slab City, CA
Slab City, California, is a unique, off-grid desert community in the Sonoran Desert, known as "The Last Free Place in America," built on concrete slabs of a former WWII Marine base, attracting squatters, snowbirds, artists, and alternative lifestyle seekers seeking freedom from mainstream society, featuring art installations like Salvation Mountain and East Jesus, plus self-sufficient living with DIY solar power and community spirit, near the Salton Sea.
Say what you like about Scott Adams, but without him the phrases "just spit on your hand and see what's gurgling around in there" and "you'll find my nuts require extra attention this morning" would not still be in my vocabulary to this day. 
Weer voor Rotterdam 🌦️
Huidige temperatuur (om 01:15): 9.2°C (Matige motregen)Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: ↙ 239°
Luchtkwaliteit:
- AQI: 36 🟢 (Goed)
- PM2.5: 6.7 μg/m³
- PM10: 8.6 μg/m³
Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:
- woensdag 14 januari: Min 6.3°, Max 9.2° (Zware motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 3.2, Kans op neerslag 31%, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: ↙ 232°
- donderdag 15 januari: Min 7.9°, Max 9.2° (Matige motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 2.6, Kans op neerslag 20%, Windsnelheid: 26.6 km/u (7.4 m/s), richting: ↓ 180°
- vrijdag 16 januari: Min 5.2°, Max 9.9° (Matige motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.1, Kans op neerslag 18%, Windsnelheid: 35.3 km/u (9.8 m/s), richting: ↓ 188°
- zaterdag 17 januari: Min 3.3°, Max 7.2° (Matige regen) 🌧️, Neerslag 5.5, Kans op neerslag 8%, Windsnelheid: 12.7 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: → 94°
- zondag 18 januari: Min 1.1°, Max 4.3° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 14%, Windsnelheid: 10.3 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: → 82°
- maandag 19 januari: Min -0.2°, Max 5.9° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.5, Kans op neerslag 30%, Windsnelheid: 10.4 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: ↘ 125°
- dinsdag 20 januari: Min 4.2°, Max 7.2° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.4, Kans op neerslag 8%, Windsnelheid: 9.0 km/u (2.5 m/s), richting: ↓ 173°
Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:
- 02:00: 9.1° (Zware motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.1, Kans op neerslag 81%, Windsnelheid: 18.4 km/u (5.1 m/s), richting: ↙ 246°
- 03:00: 8.1° (Matige motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.6, Kans op neerslag 79%, Windsnelheid: 13.7 km/u (3.8 m/s), richting: ← 271°
- 04:00: 7.2° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.3, Kans op neerslag 76%, Windsnelheid: 9.0 km/u (2.5 m/s), richting: ↖ 326°
- 05:00: 7.2° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.4, Kans op neerslag 72%, Windsnelheid: 8.3 km/u (2.3 m/s), richting: ↖ 294°
- 06:00: 7.1° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.2, Kans op neerslag 66%, Windsnelheid: 9.4 km/u (2.6 m/s), richting: ↖ 298°
- 07:00: 7.0° (Helder) 🌕, Kans op neerslag 59%, Windsnelheid: 8.3 km/u (2.3 m/s), richting: ↖ 296°
- 08:00: 6.4° (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 49%, Windsnelheid: 9.4 km/u (2.6 m/s), richting: ← 286°
- 09:00: 6.6° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 37%, Windsnelheid: 8.6 km/u (2.4 m/s), richting: ↖ 298°
- 10:00: 6.8° (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, Kans op neerslag 27%, Windsnelheid: 7.9 km/u (2.2 m/s), richting: ↖ 300°
- 11:00: 7.1° (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 20%, Windsnelheid: 6.8 km/u (1.9 m/s), richting: ↖ 293°
- 12:00: 7.3° (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 16%, Windsnelheid: 5.8 km/u (1.6 m/s), richting: ← 285°
- 13:00: 7.8° (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 12%, Windsnelheid: 4.0 km/u (1.1 m/s), richting: ← 284°
#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo